Professional Identity Crisis: Embracing Change the Smart Way
One thing in life is certain: change. Life never stays "as is" forever.
I wish I could remember which one of my mentors said, "If human beings are not making forward progress, they are essentially dying." If you think about it, it is true. How many people do you know who had the same job, owned the same business, never got promoted, never innovated a product or service, never did things differently, and truly LOVED what they do for a living for the long term? I don't know about you, but I can't think of very many people who fall into this category.
If you are like me, then you pay attention to the energy of those around you, behavior patterns, and the timing of circumstances. Those who know what I am talking about can feel it in the air right now. You can feel the underlying vibration of "change" all around you, and for many people, you are bracing for the earthquake as you prepare for an upcoming "changing season" in your own life.
A dear friend of mine and well-known author, Susan Jeffers, shared her book with me many years ago: "Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway." Susan studied and wrote about why change is so hard for people, why change causes negative emotions like stress, fear, sadness, and loneliness. Susan is no longer with us here on Earth, and she didn't get to experience the 2-year hibernation of COVID and how that would shake up human psychology. We all now know that what the world represented pre-COVID is different compared to what the world represents today. COVID has proven to be one of the ultimate psychological disruptors.
I have the privilege of working with many people across various industries on a daily basis: small business owners, digital entrepreneurs, medical providers, and corporate executives. I can feel the rumbling undertone across all industries, and I hear words like "burnout," "overwhelm," "burn it all down and start over with something new," "I want out but I feel stuck," "I can't keep going like this," "I am bored and looking for something new," and the list goes on and on.
Let's look at this situation through a multicolored lens…
If you are an employee - a corporate executive, a healthcare professional, a high level salesperson, or even a Hollywood executive - it is normal to want to make progress in your career. Most employees will want to experience upward momentum every 3-5 years, and without that momentum, it is normal to start losing the initial drive and passion that you once had for your job. What can you do? First, you must know what you want? A new title? More leadership and responsibility? A shift in your current role? More money? And you must be able to portray WHY you deserve a new opportunity? What makes you the best and better than the rest? Once you identify your differentiating factor, you can have conversations with key decision-makers that will lead you towards that dream role. If those conversations don't pan out, you can always develop an exit plan to see out an opportunity with more growth potential. Either way, you are moving, you are taking steps, and you are making progress!
If you are a business owner, it might be time to pivot or innovate. Did you know that it is typical for businesses to innovate (develop new products and services or new partnerships) every few years? Some businesses will innovate often (every 2-3 years), and others will innovate over longer time periods (10 years or more), but all businesses who are focused on growth will innovate. If you never innovate as a business owner, you will never grow. You might be wondering, what can you do? Take a step back for a moment and look at your business trajectory. Is it growing in a healthy way from a financial standpoint? Is the team energized or exhausted or worse yet, bored? It might be worth a pivot or innovation with your products, services, or partnerships. Or perhaps, it might be worth investing in new key management to take the lead so that you can pivot personally and focus on a new spin-off venture? Keep your business changing so that it doesn’t die in stagnation.
If you are a digital solopreneur or work within the digital or online space, things have changed drastically since 2020! I don't have to tell you because you are living it every day. In 2017, after 15 years as a medical professional, I finally learned the fundamentals of digital marketing from a large marketing agency in Santa Monica, CA, when I shifted my skincare company from B2B to B2C. Since that time, I continue to learn and keep my hand on the pulse of the digital marketing industry. Social media marketing and paid advertising are not what they used to be, that's for sure! If you are hitting a wall as a digital entrepreneur, it might be time to make some changes and integrate more offline activities and offline relationships/partnerships into your future game plan.
Whether you are a small business owner, digital entrepreneur, medical professional, or corporate executive, the tides may be changing. Remember that navigating bumpy dirt roads and being the captain of your ship through a foggy windstorm is part of life as a successful results driven professional.
I often watch from my bedroom windows at my summer beach house in Maine as the seasonal storms roll in and create angry rough seas with zero visibility only to roll out the next day and leave behind the most gorgeous, calm, and inviting waters and it reminds me that change is a guarantee in life. Embrace it. Own it. Create a mental foundation to come out stronger on the other side.
